The action types
| Action | Does |
|---|---|
| Filter | Selection filters other sheets |
| Highlight | Selection highlights matching marks, keeping context |
| Parameter | Selection sets a parameter value |
| Set | Selection changes set membership |
| Go to Sheet | Navigates to another dashboard |
| URL | Opens an external link, optionally passing field values |
Add them from Dashboard → Actions, or the quicker route: use a sheet as a filter via the funnel icon in its header.
Triggers and clearing
Each action runs on hover, select or menu.
Hover feels responsive but fires constantly and is disorienting on a dense dashboard. Select is the sensible default. Menu is best where the action is expensive or destructive.
The clearing the selection setting matters as much as the action itself:
- Leave the filter — the last selection persists
- Show all values — deselecting returns everything
- Exclude all values — deselecting empties the target, which is how you build a dashboard where a chart only appears after a selection
Filter versus highlight
A filter action removes non-matching data. A highlight action keeps everything visible and emphasises the match.
Highlight is often the better choice, because context is retained — you can see how the selected region compares with the others, which a filter destroys.
Parameter and set actions
Parameter actions let a click set a parameter, which then drives calculations, reference lines or a swapped measure. That removes a control from the dashboard and makes the chart itself the interface.
Set actions change set membership on click, which is how you build comparison views — select some customers and see them against everyone else. Combined with a calculation referencing the set, one click reshapes the whole analysis.
Restraint
A dashboard where three well-chosen actions do useful work gets used. One where every chart filters every other is disorienting, and people stop trusting what they are seeing.
Start from the two or three questions your audience actually asks.